


My Boy

by stuffilikeiwrite



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Original Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Anakin Skywalker Needs a Hug, Angst, Darth Vader Has Issues, Darth Vader's A+ parenting, Family Drama, Father-Son Relationship, Gen, Human Disaster Anakin Skywalker, Luke Skywalker Needs A Hug, Minor Violence, Other, POV Darth Vader, Post-Star Wars: A New Hope, Pre-Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, Sad Luke
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-14
Updated: 2020-11-14
Packaged: 2021-03-09 20:26:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,940
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27562249
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stuffilikeiwrite/pseuds/stuffilikeiwrite
Summary: Luke’s brow furrowed in suspicion."Finish it," the boy finally croaked; tone hushed but challenging - demanding.
Relationships: Anakin Skywalker & Luke Skywalker, Luke Skywalker & Darth Vader
Comments: 3
Kudos: 172





	My Boy

Vader grunted furiously as he backhanded Luke full force; right across the face. 

Watched as the boy flew several feet through the air of the cramped corridor before slamming with a painful thud against the barred floor coverings. Watched as the familiar blue lightsaber slipped from his hand to scatter away in the opposite direction. His back crashing unceremoniously into durasteel walls; a small whimper escaping his throat. The boy shook, but was quick to scramble up into a half sitting position - bleary eyes on his assailant. 

Vader took three long strides; raising his saber to deliver the final blow. Above his head; to swing it down in one fell swoop. To decapitate. Watched as it fell; watched it come down by his own hand. Until he could no longer.

_Wait._

Then; he stopped. Red saber humming ominously as it hovered mere inches above the mop of shaggy blonde hair. Hesitating.

Luke had backed up against the wall; curled up in a ball for protection. Head ducked down, arms above his head making a meek defense. 

He was trembling. Bruised. Battered. A thick stream of red blood trailing from his right nostril; down over his lips to smear against his chin. Leaving stains on his beige jumpsuit. Eyes now squeezed tightly shut; teeth grit with his jaw clenched hard. Waiting for death; expecting this to be his last moment. Shoulders shaking; chest heaving as he panted hard. Unsteady; ragged breaths leaving his trembling lips. The unmistakable streaks of tears running down his sweaty, dirty cheeks. Matted clumps of dark blonde hair clinging to his damp cheekbones and forehead.

Vader couldn't move - his concealed eyes darting between the boy's horrified expression, and his own saber. Ready to strike. It would be so easy. He had done this a thousand times before. Windu. The younglings. Ahsoka. Obi Wan. Padmé. They had all died by his hand; one way or another. 

Gripping the hilt of his weapon hard enough for the metal to creak in protest; Vader shook his head and raised it above his head. Watched Luke cower; shrink back in terror. 

_One strike. That's all you need. One strike._

This boy was the enemy. This boy was a rebel scum; the man who had blown up the first Death Star. This boy was a Jedi in training; Obi Wan's apprentice. This boy was the son of Anakin Skywalker; a man long since destroyed. A man who had been weak, naive, and feeble. Who had wished so desperately to save his loved ones, but in the end failed miserably. This boy was the last link, the last bridge to cross. Vader narrowed his eyes; saw a fresh tear run down Luke's already streaked face.

_Just kill him. It's all you need to do. Just kill him now. Before he kills you._

But Luke didn't seem capable of harming anybody; didn’t seem capable of recognizing his own abilities. The muffled, silent sobs from the boy along with Vader's mechanical breathing the only sounds. That, and the saber's steady hum. Until it was no longer. 

Only a whoosh as the lethal weapon was flicked off; as the cylinder of its hilt was discarded from Vader's glowed prosthetic hands. As he tossed it aside. Only the thunk as it bounced off the floor between them.

"I can't."

Luke flinched at the sound of Vader's booming voice ; head snapping up. Big blue eyes wide with confusion and dread; the image of the boy tinted red by the infrared light sensors within the lenses of Vader's face plate. Breaths a little more even as the silence of the stalemate dragged on; body still trembling from the shock, from the exertion of the duel. A mess of sweat, blood and tears wetting his youthful features. Features so reminiscent of another hopeful, wide eyed young man from long ago.

_Why? Why can't I?_

Vader looked down at his own hands; almost as if expecting to see them drenched in the crimson blood of the innocent lives he had snuffed out. It was his turn to flinch; and he looked back to the boy. To Luke's wary, fearful eyes where they darted across his mask; as if desperate to figure the situation out. The fear no longer rolling off of him in suffocating waves - still present, but more subdued and less unhinged. Luke’s brow furrowed in suspicion.

"Finish it," the boy finally croaked; tone hushed but challenging - demanding.

Vader stared at him; watched the boy swallow harshly. Watched fresh tears begin to pool at the corners of his eyes. Watched him straighten up into a less frightened position; on his knees. As if he was part of a public execution; ready to meet his maker. Vader watched him swipe with his tattered sleeves at his smudged face. Watched him sweep his hair back with still quivering hands.

"Finish me. Like you did Ben. Like you did my father."

"Your father?" 

Vader caught the disbelief in his own tone. Followed by an overpowering rage; as he balled his hands into tight fists. Watched Luke tip his head backwards; steadying himself. Exposing his neck. It would be so easy to seize the boy’s throat; to squeeze until the windpipe gave way beneath the invisible powers of the Dark Side. 

And for a second; Vader nearly surrendered to the urge. Reaching out with his hand as if to choke; as if to suffocate and pledge himself to the most heinous of acts. Watched as Luke gasped for breath; as he paled. For a second; Vader squeezed.

_No._

_I can't._

Luke coughed; the grip of the Force releasing him immediately. Hand coming up to cover his throat; rubbing at it - suddenly not so intent on offering himself up as a sacrificial lamb. 

Vader watched him suck in several deep breaths; and it took him far too long before he realized that the feeling that was coming over him was shame. And guilt. When had he last felt guilt? 

This time, it was Vader who shrunk back. 

One faltering step. Then another. Glowing ember eyes wide beneath his mask; only halting when his own strong back collided with durasteel and oxygen canisters lining the interior walls. The sensation washing over him like a tidal wave; like a freezing Winter rain piercing what little humanity he had left.

"You--" Vader began to say; tone so much louder through the vocoder than he'd have liked, but he was immediately cut off.

"Why do you have to toy with me? Can't you just do it? They all say you're merciful, you always say my death will be swift. Is this some sort of sick joke to you? Is this your way of tormenting me for fun?" Luke rasped; voice breaking as he trailed off into a high pitched sniffle.

The anger surged through Vader once more; but he simply turned his head away. Felt it mingle with emotions he'd thought long dead and gone, emotions he'd thought died with Anakin. Emotions he had wanted to bury with Anakin.

Most palpable was the pain. And the remorse.

"I have for no intention to toy with you... you are different."

"How? How am I any different? You've slain hundreds of young men! I'm just one of them!"

Luke hissed, spit flying from his bared teeth as he glared daggers at Vader from where he crouched; hand still covering his own throat for protection. Like a caged animal; ferocious.

If looks could kill.

_He's my son. My boy. How could I ever think...? My son._

For a moment, if Luke had been able to see Vader's sickly yellow Sith eyes behind the black mask; he might have caught them shifting to a pale blue. Might have caught the wetness briefly glistening in them. If he could sense the shift; he didn't show it. Except for something flickering across his face; like a vague, distant realization. Like something was dawning on him.

"I did not kill Anakin Skywalker," said Vader finally; attempting to stand up straight and proud. "I did not kill your father."

Luke only narrowed his eyes but said nothing; his mind screaming at Vader to stop lying. To stop playing with his perception of reality. To stop tormenting him.

"Who told you I did?"

"Ben," said Luke, far quicker than Vader had expected a reply - if he’d expected one at all.

Luke's gaze flicked towards the discarded sabers; as if making sure he had them within grasp of the Force should he need them. Vader watched his fingers twitch in preparation. But he made no move. Neither did; except for Vader as he shook his helmeted head barely visibly. 

Vader watched the boy shudder; was convinced Luke must feel the venomous, icy tendrils of the Dark Side pouring off of him. Was certain the needles were stinging Luke's limbs, his exposed face; digging into his mind like sharpened hooks. Was certain Luke must sense it tainting the very air they were breathing. Was convinced Luke could feel the throbbing, mulling charge in the atmosphere of Vader’s anger. Intense and red hot.

"Ben told me you sliced his guts open and left him for dead," Luke finally wheezed through a clenched jaw; a mixture of defiance and dread on his face.

"No."

_I cannot kill my boy. Anakin's boy. No - my boy._

A small pause, enough for Luke to take a deep breath and gulp audibly. To process what was happening. As if he was expecting Vader to turn on a dime again; as if he was expecting another half hearted attempt on his life. 

Instead; he was dumbfounded when Vader once more broke the silence. And even before Vader had finished speaking; he could feel the pure anguish pouring off of the boy. Like a shock wave; desperate to deny the truth, but only able to accept it. Recognizing the connection.

"I was once Anakin Skywalker. And you are my son."

_You are my son. I must spare you. I can do no less,_ Vader thought; desperately as he poured it into the small spark of a neglected Force bond flickering between them.

He watched Luke's eyes widen in horror. Watched him gape. Heard the strained, painful whine that left his throat when it constricted. He had expected it; but it still stung. 

The boy was exhausted, worn out; devastated. Mourning the lies he'd been fed. Mourning the idealistic fantasy of his father's past, of his persona. 

"Your son," he mouthed, wordlessly as if he'd suddenly lost the ability to speak coherently - head drooping and shoulders sagging in defeat.

"Yes."

And there was no resistance; no scrambling away when Vader slowly crossed the distance between them. When he cautiously reached out one of his huge, gloved hands. It hovered close to the boy's head; once more hesitant. Wanting to just once touch the son he had been deprived of for so many years.

_My flesh and blood._

If the hand had still been Vader’s own, it may have been shaking with anticipation. Even now, it longed for sensations no synthetic flesh could ever replicate. Only Vader's shoulders seemed to possess the capability to quiver; to waver with doubt. 

Luke looked up then, blue eyes empty as they locked gazes - except for an underlying, unspeakable sorrow. And a sense of knowing; a sense of acceptance.

Vader touched his son then, wishing to soothe. Wishing to bring the spark of life back into those familiar eyes. Smoothed the boy’s matted blonde hair back. Watched as Luke's eyelids slid shut. And an overpowering sense of relief washed over them both; until the charge around them melted away into serene bliss. 

“My son.”

**Author's Note:**

> So, this one was written eons ago, inspired by the second season of Castlevania and the exchange between Alucard and Dracula. It really got to me, and I thought a slight AU tweak to Luke and Vader may work with similar themes. So, here you go! Hope it's alright, also I have another similar piece I may post if this one is well received. I just like to see Vader abusde Luke I guess, until he realizes he's manhandling his own son haha.
> 
> Anyway, enjoy!


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